Experts in the News

Topic
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Washington, Trump and pandemics

In the midst of our dread about the coronavirus, we are learning about social distancing and the physics of cough droplets. We also are discovering the limits of presidential power and witnessing how public expectations shape the presidency. But this hardly is the first time that a president has confronted a pandemic. The differences in how the first president handled the first pandemic and what some of us expect from our president today reveals quite a bit about how the founders envisioned the presidency and what it might yet become.
Saikrishna Prakash
Washington Examiner

Following Hillary Clinton endorsement, where's Bill?

"Carter is an unpopular and failed president, do you want to be associated with him? I think there’s some of that with Clinton, you have the issue with his impeachment, but he leads his office very popular," said presidential historian Barbara Perry, who has done extensive work on presidential endorsements. "He’s popular, but in recent times because of the #MeToo movement, there are those issues."
Barbara Perry
UVA Today

Q&A: Is Covid-19 a perfect storm for U.S.-China relations?

Among its many other effects, the coronavirus pandemic has further complicated the United States’ already tense relationship with China. Syaru Shirley Lin, Compton Visiting Professor in World Politics at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, called the pandemic a “perfect storm” that has thrown tension between the two world superpowers into stark relief.
Syaru Shirley Lin
JFK note

Pressure cooker: Leadership lessons from the Secret White House Tapes

When presidents encounter crises, their leadership skills are tested under the most stressful of circumstances. But notes, memos, and other official documents often leave out the human dimension that has led our presidents to succeed or fail when the stakes are high. Using recordings from the Center's Secret White House Tapes, Marc Selverstone tells us stories of presidents under pressure and reveals the lessons that we might apply today.
Marc Selverstone